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<strong>Video Title: </strong> <a href="/modules.php?name=Video&vop=view&id=461" target="_blank">Next Great Prime Minister Entry- J.J. McCullough</a> (click to view)

<strong>Category:</strong> <a href="/modules.php?name=Video&vop=viewcat&catid=7">Canadian Political</a>
<strong>Posted By: </strong> <a href="/modules.php?name=Your_Account&op=userinfo&username=Canadaka" target="_blank">Canadaka</a>
<strong>Date: </strong> Thu Nov 2007
<br><br>My name is J.J. McCullough and I come from Coquitlam, BC. My big idea is to change Canada's constitution so we have a more democratic system of government. I believe our current parliamentary constitutional monarchy gives far too much power to the executive branch and has made our House of Commons irrelevant and powerless. Canadians need a new model of government that gives more power to parliament and gets rid of our outdated, undemocratic parliamentary conventions.

I may suck at acting and editing video, but I have a lot of big ideas for how to change our country for the better.<br>
<a href="/modules.php?name=Video&vop=view&id=461" class="red"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/-nrDBQXDtDg/default.jpg" border="0" /></a>

[Canadaka]

looky what I found!

[sasquatch2]

When this fool refers to "the executive branch" it is obvious that he is:

Confusing Canada's government with the US.

Is unaware that the PMO is not a branch of the Canada's Westminster Parliamentary sytem.

[Arctic_Menace]

Nonetheless, I like some of his ideas, namely about Canada needing to grow up.

[JJ]

Noo! So embarassing!

Yes I did enter on a lark, greatly misunderestimating how difficult it is to edit a coherient movie together. As you can see, concepts like lighting and sound still baffle me.

You were supposed to pick one "big idea" for changing Canada, so I figured constitutional/democratic reform might be a good bet, because it's an issue that I think is very important, yet often goes ignored in the mainstream discussion about "Canada's problems." And at last glance, I think I am in fact the only entrant to specifically embrace this topic, which I hope at least gives me a sliver of a chance to get into whatever the next phase of the contest is.

I am not very charismatic, however, and that is evidently one of the key criterias of judging.

[Canadaka]

Better than I would do, I can video edit, but I suck at talking in front of a camera.

[Quantum_Wizard]

JJ, at least your speech was articulate and well delivered.

[Prestwick]

JJ wrote:

Noo! So embarassing!

Yes I did enter on a lark, greatly misunderestimating how difficult it is to edit a coherient movie together. As you can see, concepts like lighting and sound still baffle me.

You were supposed to pick one "big idea" for changing Canada, so I figured constitutional/democratic reform might be a good bet, because it's an issue that I think is very important, yet often goes ignored in the mainstream discussion about "Canada's problems." And at last glance, I think I am in fact the only entrant to specifically embrace this topic, which I hope at least gives me a sliver of a chance to get into whatever the next phase of the contest is.

I am not very charismatic, however, and that is evidently one of the key criterias of judging.

Argh! If only the cameraman had a motion balancer thingy for the camera and if only you had a mic to pick up what you were saying more clearly.

Also, you should have written all that down as a script and then done chunks walking in different locations. One in that park/campus, one walking downtown, one through a shopping center, etc and then stitch them together.

The idea is sound as is the content.

[JJ]

Ouch.

[Prestwick]

Were my suggestions that bad?

[JJ]

Well you said "The idea is sound as is the content" and as you noted, the content is pretty weak, assuming we are talking about production values.

[Prestwick]

Always the modest one....I think.

[Brenda]

I think what you did is great! I understood what you said, you did say what you thought, not what you had written down (I mean, you didn't read out loud...)

And I loved that sneaky smile when you said: That's why I will be Canada's next great Prime Minister

[Canadian_Mind]

'Twas good. yes the videography sucked, and sure you weren't the most charismatic person on the earth, but you were incredibly clear and concise. Nothing wrong with a man who is straightforward and hard as a nail... Shows Character, and quite frankly thats what we need in times like these.

[Winnipegger]

I thought the video was well done. Can I comment on some of your political ideas?

You called for the abolition of the Governor General. That's a necessary party of our checks and balances; let me give you an example why we need the position.

The last year Gary Filmon was premier of Manitoba, he failed to call the legislature into session. The local broadsheet newspaper, the Winnipeg Free Press, started a daily count of the number of days since the legislature sat. One day in March 1999 a friend called to complain about this, he was quite distraught so I told him I would look up the rules and get back to him. I found the constitution of Manitoba said the legislature must sit such that no more than 12 months passes between one sitting and the next. Tradition is it sits every season, but that's what the constitution says. So I looked up Hansard to see when it last sat. It broke for summer vacation at 6:00pm on June 26, 1998. Ok, so Filmon had until 6:00pm on June 26, 1999, to call the legislature into session; if he didn't by then he would be in violation of the constitution. I looked up the responsibilities and powers of the Lieutenant Governor, he does have responsibility to ensure the constitution is obeyed, and does have power to call an election if it's violated. It was late by the time I found all this out so I went to sleep and called my friend from work the next day during my morning coffee break. My friend asked if the Lieutenant Governor knew he had that power, I pointed out he is a politician and in name head of state of the province so I'm sure he does. Besides, if Gary Filmon didn't call the legislature into session by June 1st, I would go to Gary Doer, then leader of the official opposition, and ask him to go to the Lieutenant Governor at 6:00pm on June 26. I'm sure the Lieutenant Governor would listen to the leader of the official opposition, and the leader of the official opposition would listen to a voter who had a plan for him to become premier. My friend asked if Gary Filmon could simply seek re-election. I said yes, but in this scenario the Lieutenant Governor would have basically fired him for violating the constitution, what are the chances Filmon could get re-elected after that? Not bloody likely, so I told my friend to sit back, relax, and give Gary Filmon enough proverbial rope to hang himself.

I left my office door open during the phone call; I thought if anyone did overhear, so much the better. More people upset over this the better. What I didn't realize is it may be different that I worked for the city government at the time. I was a contractor so couldn't get in trouble for getting involved in politics, but someone may have overheard. I also forgot the guy in the next office was a 19-year-old youth who was a member of the provincial PC party and had been part of Youth Parliament. I never did learn if someone overheard, but when I went home I saw on the 6:00 news Gary Filmon say he was calling the legislature into session and the legislature would sit first thing the following morning. The government never does anything for first thing the following morning, so something was up.

Did I just threaten the Premier of the province? If so, then only the threat of invoking the Lieutenant Governor was enough to get him to obey the constitution.

The Governor General holds the same position at the federal level. She isn't an ambassador or a ceremonial position, she's a major part of the checks and balances of the Canadian system. The federal constitution says elections must be held not more than 5 years apart, so if the Prime Minister doesn't call an election within that 5 year term, the Governor General will. The Governor General must proclaim a law before it comes into effect, so if the Prime Minister tries to push through a bill without going through all the procedures required by the rules of parliament, or attempts to enact a law after parliament votes it down, the Governor General can just say no. Elections Canada reports to the Governor General to ensure no political interference, which does mean if the Chief Electoral officer screws up, the Governor General has direct supervisory authority to reprimand and at her discretion punish him. It takes an act of parliament to fire him, but the Governor General can punish. The Governor General is also Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, so if the Prime Minister attempts a coup the Governor General can overrule him. Most relevant to the current government, if the Prime Minister asks the Governor General to call an election too soon after the last one, the Governor General can ask the leader of the official opposition if he can form a coalition of MPs to form government. I'm told this has happened once in Canada's history; I'm sure that Prime Minister is still kicking himself in the grave for giving up his Prime Ministership.

Canada was the first colony to leave the Empire after the United States. Canada became a Dominion peacefully, and most British colonies followed Canada's lead. Australia is one of those countries that became a separate country but remained part of the British Commonwealth, modelling their government on Canada's. So you can't say Australia's government is better or more mature than ours, in fact theirs is modelled on ours.

That said, great video. Good luck with the contest.